A number of consumer products have been proposed to monitor food items and inventory in both household settings and retails use. Storage areas might include kitchen pantries, refrigerators, freezers, and storage areas that hold bulk supply. These storage areas have included monitoring systems that often utilize bar code scanners, electronic tag sensors, and other methods that manually read and detect the addition and removal of items within a particular storage area or areas by way of a handheld device. Other monitoring systems have provided for monitoring the temperature, humidity, and acidity of a food item in order to determine whether the food item is suitable for consumption. Specialized containers have been used to track the temperature and humidity exposure of the food in the containers.
The use of such monitoring systems, however, has been limited to maintaining a list of food items and their suitability for consumption. The systems do not manage the inventory according to preferred practices, nor does the inventory get automatically updated.
Most systems employ manual practices to date due to several factors including, but not limited to, the relatively mainstream acceptance of current barcode systems and handheld scanners in a consumer sales setting. This would include the Universal Product codes (known as UPC codes) that identify products on a store shelf, from food and beverage identification, to automotive products, entertainment and common everyday household products. Further, employment and shipping practices depend on the use UPC codes for delivery and stocking of items to ensure accurate inventory.
Typically, households have not utilized the barcode systems to track inventory within a home, nor has the option been available or even been presented as cost-effective. Further, listings of food items and other identifiable goods in a home have been absent in written or electronic form. On the other hand, quick response codes (QR codes) have been implemented for marketing and consumer, providing easily accessible information about most any product. The most common and popular use of QR codes is to display website information including a website address.
While conventional bar codes are capable of storing a maximum of approximately 20 digits, QR Code is capable of handling several hundred times more information. QR Code is capable of handling all types of data, such as numeric and alphabetic characters, Kanji, Kana, Hiragana, symbols, binary and control codes. Up to 7,089 characters can be encoded in one symbol. QR Code carries information both horizontally and vertically which enables it to encode the same amount of data in approximately 1/10th the space of a traditional bar code. In Japanese, one full-width Kana or Kanji character is efficiently encoded in 13 bits allowing QR Code to hold 20% more data than other 2D symbologies. QR Code is also capable of 360 degree (omni-directional), high speed reading, through position detection patterns located at the corners of the symbol, guaranteeing high-speed reading and circumventing negative effects of background interference.
Where coding has provided access to internet through mobile networks, the availability of enhanced coding of consumer products, patent marks, and detailed easy-access information through existing appliances and inventory systems is lacking. The store owner lacks the apparatus or system that would enable automated detection, identification and tracking of a product from entry at delivery through to exit at purchase. Even moreso, the consumer market lacks any system of personalized product management, inventory, and information data system for easy access through internet or mobile application.
A need exists for an electronic identification system that would integrate with consumer purchased products for management of data in electronic form by way of an interconnected computing system, network, and/or mobile device. The system would utilize the benefits of current coding systems while also employing coding that will facilitate a uniform identification of goods within a sales setting or within a household. Such a system would enable the use of self-monitoring, analysis, and reporting technology systems (SMART systems) that implement apps and interfacing from a high-speed network. Future desirable systems would be integrated with household appliances, particularly to enable SMART refrigerators, freezers, and pantries that implement features that allow automated grocery list compilations based on volumes and weights of items entering and exiting the storage appliance, including nutritional facts, recipe listings, and expirational information. The appliance systems would also beneficially implement display technology that allows for an integrated flat panel computer technology on a surface of the appliance such that the surface is transparent to visualize items within the storage area, change to a functional computer system for easy file access on a hard drive or network, or perhaps create an image or transformational effect that implements a color-change or design that coordinates with the character of a room. Further needs will be realized as described in the following detailed description.